


All the King's Horses

by TidbitsAndThoughts



Series: Song Fic Stories [1]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Dadtcher, Minor Violence, Song fic, mostly hurt but planned comfort, reference to abuse, there are some brief depictions of the prince's time in prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25958524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TidbitsAndThoughts/pseuds/TidbitsAndThoughts
Summary: Snatcher has to go save Hat Kid from the manor because the kid went back for some dumb reason! Things get trickier when his powers diminish in the cold of the manor.This fic is based on the song, All the King's Horses by Karmina! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsdVRsuaXbE I feel like this song is absolutely perfect for the Prince and I wanted to play around with it.
Series: Song Fic Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884079
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	All the King's Horses

Chains that had once been taut with his weight hung from the wall, shattered at the ends. Despite the cold outside and upstairs, the basement was warm enough to keep the muddied water on the stone floor liquid.

Snatcher kept his tail high, not wanting to drag it through the gross water that smelled of salt and blood.

Scowling, he pushed himself towards the door that led to the first floor. His large purple talons hovered over the knob.

If he still had his heart it would be pounding.

“Ridiculous,” he muttered though his usual boisterous voice came out like a squeak. He gripped the doorknob, mentally chastising himself.

_Fool._

Torn between two sources of fear, he grabbed onto the one concerning the hat brat, honing it into adrenaline. She was inside the manor. And Vanessa’s ice could kill her. But Snatcher? He was already dead.

Snatcher pushed through the door. He supposed he could use his powers to phase through but there was something about this manor that drained him. He blamed Vanessa’s ice magic, which surely messed with his powers. He had to conserve every ounce in case he had to face the wicked queen.

He floated up the stairs, cautiously listening for any sound. The ceiling creaked above him and he jolted, glancing up. Had it been a normal creak or a someone-walking creak? The manor was so darn old he had no way to tell.

Not with the frozen atmosphere messing with his senses, dulling his abilities to sense souls.

The good news was that it was quiet. While the forest had long ago been cursed under an eternal night, Snatcher wouldn’t have been surprised if Vanessa tried to keep up her routine and sleep regularly. The bad news was, he needed to check every room for the kid. If Vanessa was sleeping now, she might not be by the time it took for him to locate the brat.

While he floated into the library, wincing at the frozen dweller by the bookshelf and frowning at the crumbled piano he remembered spending many hours playing, he mentally worked through the binding contract he would make after this ordeal that forced the brat to _never enter the manor again_. Honestly, he hadn’t given it much thought when she had first come to his forest. He had known a time piece had fallen into the manor and he knew Vanessa could _not_ keep her twisted claws on something so _powerful_ but it was such a _pain_ to get any of his minions to go to the manor.

Well, he thought, miserable as he drifted into the kitchen and eyed the frost-bitten chocolate chip cookies that used to fill him with such warmth, he couldn’t very well make the village children face their killer again, could he?

So, making the brat do it seemed like the _perfect_ solution. Any living creature that wandered into his forest ended up dead anyway and he had had her soul to boot! But if he had known it would lead to this situation, he would have just retrieved the hourglass himself.

The phantom couldn’t fathom why anyone would come here willingly, unless forced by a contract. _So why did she come back?_

He ignored the slight tremble of his talons as he left the kitchen. Diminished magic or no, he wasn’t going to cower in fear of a stupid manor or a stupid ice witch!

He had left such weaknesses back when he was alive.

He entered the dining room and glanced around. Swearing under his breath when he didn’t see the kid, he walked over to the stairs. Wait—

Snatcher glanced down, his golden eyes widening when he found his tail had changed into a pair of legs. What? He quickly checked his hands, which were still talons that sharpened on a moment’s notice. His form was still entirely shadow, with no discernable features other than his eyes and mouth. But in addition to his legs, he found he had shrunk down to, well, his human height.

It was the darn ice magic, he told himself silently. He took a step up the first stair and it creaked. After immediately pulling his foot back with a strangled yelp, he stilled and listened.

The only sound he could hear was the howl of the wind outside, blowing powdered snow around.

Carefully, he climbed the stairs, stepping as close to the wall as he could and cursing his legs and cursing the brat who had brought him here.

_Why_ would the kid come here? What on earth was so important that she had to return to the ice witch’s lair? There wasn’t another hourglass! He could sense that all the way over in his tree. The only magic here was Vanessa’s and it was _dangerous_. The kid knew this!

As soon as he reached the second floor a feeling of dread gripped his chest like ice. He slowed, instinctively bringing a hand to his chest protectively. The temperature had dropped significantly in the manor and he knew _she_ was close.

A quick survey showed that ice crystals had formed in the gap between the floor and door that led to the bedroom. His earlier thought had been correct. She was sleeping.

Snatcher’s tensed chest released, almost as if he was letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Except he hadn’t been. He was a ghost. He didn’t breathe.

And yet the sensation of petrified lungs clung to him.

He shook himself back into action, promising he would give the hat brat a piece of his mind when they were safely away from this place. As quietly as he could, he slunk down the hallway and slowly opened the door to the nursery.

_Don’t look_ , a thought reminded him. Staring straight ahead, he could see the edges of the crib in the corner of his eye. He jerked his head towards the whole of the right side of the room. There were frozen figures he recognized with a dull ache. A train set with bird characters. Torn pages scattered around the room and claw marks in the walls.

But no Hat Kid.

He shot a wary glance towards the door leading to the bedroom. Surely, he didn’t have to check there? There was still the attic and bathroom. He was about to leave when he heard a muffled sob coming from the crib.

Snatcher whirled around, distant memories clouding his thoughts as his golden gaze immediately fell onto the empty crib. Empty? He scowled immediately, realizing what kind of hopeful nonsense had just flooded his being. He was here for Hat Kid! Hat Kid!

The lump in his throat infuriated him. It had been centuries and he had searched and interrogated every dweller he could find. He had grieved. He had grieved the loss of his family long ago.

He couldn’t do it again.

A quiet sniffle drew his gaze downward and this time, he felt relief at the sight of a small, familiar shoe slowly tucking itself into the shadows under the crib.

He knelt down. Hat Kid lay with her back to him, curled up and trembling. He pressed a cheek against the cold floor and reached out a five-fingered hand. Before he could touch her yellow cape, she jolted, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes.

Wordlessly, he lifted a finger to his lips before gesturing for her to come out. He sat back, his legs folded beneath him as he crossed his arms.

Hat Kid slowly crawled out from under the crib, her big blue eyes considering him with shock. He noted an item clutched in her hand, but he couldn’t make out what it was. His gaze returned to her features. She was gob-smacked, her mouth hanging open with her brows furrowed. He scowled at her, hoping his glare conveyed enough venom to reprimand her without words. Her mouth snapped closed as he absentmindedly re-adjusted her tilted top hat.

He realized, then, that he wasn’t looking at his usual talons.

He yanked his hand back, examining it and the outfit he had manifested. A purple and yellow suit tailored to him with puffy sleeves he was ashamed he ever wore was now on his body. He lifted his purple hands to his head, finding his mane had returned to gentle curls on his head.

That was fan-pecking- _tastic_. No wonder the brat was looking at him like that.

Frustration building, Snatcher swiftly covered her mouth with one hand and picked her up with the other. She squirmed at first but soon accepted it, tucking the object she had into her bag. Once he reached the door, he shifted her around, getting her to perch on his arm so he could hold her close and open doors as they made their escape.

To his relief, she didn’t pull away and, instead, leaned against his chest and held onto his shirt.

He pushed open the door, grateful it didn’t creak like the rest of the bloody house. In the hallway, it was particularly darker. Snatcher frowned, wondering if a blizzard was obscuring the moonlight.

Hat Kid’s fist tightened against his chest as he turned the corner down the hall. Lightning flashed, revealing the dark shadow with gleaming red eyes at the end of the hall.

“My prince?” Vanessa’s distorted voice echoed in the dark. “You’ve come back.”

Snatcher immediately summoned a blue fire in his palm, casting light on the walls in time to see Vanessa scuttling quickly down the hall, her raspy fingers twitching in grabbing motions. He felt the air tighten and his thoughts flatlined. Ice tore through the wood floors, coming at him quicker than Vanessa.

_No, no, no, no!_

“Snatcher!” Hat Kid dropped from his arm and yanked him out of the way of an icicle. “We have to move!” She pulled him back towards the nursery and he stumbled to keep up with her.

Vanessa drew closer but Hat Kid tugged him quickly through the nursery and bedroom. He vaguely registered to hold out his hand with the flame so that she could see in the pitch-black manor.

With Vanessa foolishly following their trail, they made it down to the first floor. Snatcher ran to the front door, forgetting that snow and ice blocked it on the other side.

“The cellar!” Hat Kid reminded incredulously, and he winced.

“Right,” he muttered, running back to the stairs that led to the room that had been his prison long ago.

“No!” Vanessa screeched, appeared from the dining room and extending a contorted hand. “You will not leave!”

A beam of ice shot out of her finger, aimed right at the hat brat. Snatcher immediately slammed into the kid, sending her tumbling down the stairs as something sharp tore into his chest. Hat Kid cried out to him and Vanessa let out a horrid yell as he dropped to the ground.

_Ice in his bones. His arms losing blood from how he dangled from the wall._

Vanessa inched closer, cackling.

_His own broken heart, torn in two. His legs felt disconnected, having succumbed to gravity while the rest of him was tethered by ice cold chains._

“Snatcher!” Hat Kid urged in his ear.

_All that time, unable to grow numb enough to not feel the cold._

_Unable to grow numb enough to the pain of leaving the child in the nursery._

“Snap out of it!” Hat Kid sounded on the verge of tears. Ice crept around them as a shadow drew closer.

_He was always haunted by the past in the cellar. Unable to do anything but cry as he thought about the time when he was safe in his beloved’s arms, when he could cradle his daughter in a protective embrace._

He was haunted by the past now.

“Please!” Hat Kid pleaded, sounding as desperate as the frozen voice of the prince had once sounded.

_“Please, Vanessa! Vanessa,_ please _! Listen to me, please!”_

_“Please don’t hurt her!”_

“Kid,” Snatcher pushed himself onto trembling arms as Vanessa reached them. He summoned the last of his strength and blasted the queen with a wall of blue flames. Vanessa recoiled and Hat Kid looped his arm around her shoulder.

“No!” Vanessa screamed as the flames flickered between her and the retreating duo.

Snatcher glanced over his shoulder as Hat Kid dragged him into the cellar and over to the stairs leading to freedom.

In his weakened state, the chains on the walls tormented him. He shut his eyes, letting Hat Kid lead him to safety.

_In the cellar he could hear the screams. Screams of his friends and the staff of the manor as wicked ice froze them solid. He heard the earth-shattering drum of horses’ hooves as soldiers came to the manor to look for him. He heard the tormented neighs of horses as they lost their riders._

_At least… he never heard his baby cry since being locked away. The sound might have destroyed him beyond even his repair._

The cold hardened in his chest as they entered the blizzard. Snatcher blinked against the snow and hail as he tried to create more flames, but the blue spark sputtered in his palm. He glanced down at his still humanoid form. If he was too weak to create flames, he was too weak to assume his powerful form and fly them out of there.

_Soon, only his deteriorating breath and the occasional distant and deranged laugh from Vanessa could be heard in his prison. All the pain he felt was nothing to the sorrow that cleft his heart into shard after shard as he thought about all the faces of his loved ones, frozen because of his failures._

_He had marveled bitterly that even if he got out, he was far too broken that even all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put him back together again._

_If there were any left to try, actually._

“Snatcher?” Hat Kid asked, pulling him back to the present. He shook his head, squinting so much in the face of the blizzard he might as well have been blind.

“What’s the matter, Kiddo? Afraid of a little snow?” He let out a weak cackle, ignoring the pain in his chest.

“We just have a little more to go,” Hat Kid promised, her voice weak against the howling wind. “The ice caverns leading back to the village will provide more cover.”

“Wonderful,” Snatcher drawled sarcastically, lifting his free hand to his brow as he tried to shield his eyes to get a better look around.

It had been like this back then, too.

_An endless blizzard encasing Subcon Forest was what the ghost of the prince found as soon as he escaped the cellar. He had been more like his stupid princely form then, too, still weak and pathetic before he could get his hands on a couple of souls and magic._

_It never occurred to him until that moment, standing in the middle of a frozen lake, running from the manor, how truly and terribly alone he was._

“Here,” Hat Kid pulled him into a cavern, and he let out a sigh, blinking his golden eyes against the cool blue of the ice. Hat Kid let out a snort and he glared down at her.

“What, pray tell, is so funny, Brat?”

“You have snowflakes in your hair,” Hat Kid pushed to her toes and reached up. Without thinking, he knelt down, and she ruffled his dark purple hair. Cascades of ice crystals fluttered between them.

“Oh yeah?” He straightened his back and brushed the thick layer of snow off of her hat. “I’m not the only one looking like a snowman.”

Hat Kid chuckled but immediately stopped when Snatcher grunted, lifting a hand to his chest, and dropped to the ground.

“The ice!” Hat Kid panicked, dropping to his side as he winced.

Looking down, he found that the ice attack he took from Vanessa had embedded itself into his chest and snowflakes were blooming across his shirt, spreading in a tessellation.

“The snowflakes are blue,” Hat Kid whispered with fright.

“Don’t worry, Kiddo,” Snatcher rolled his eyes. “I can’t die.” He could hurt though, and hurt he did. Nevertheless, he hated the concerned look she was giving him. “I’ll be fine. I just need to eat.” He gave her a wicked grin and she snapped her fingers.

“Oh! I have some lunch that Cooking Cat made me!” Hat Kid reached into her bag.

“I meant souls, Kid,” Snatcher’s features fell. “Seriously, I spent all that time talking about eating souls and putting details in the contracts. How much have you been paying attention?”

“Oh right,” Hat Kid frowned. “Do you really need to eat souls though? It’s a mean thing to do and I was hoping you were getting passed that.”

“Kid!” Snatcher furrowed his brows, true anger bubbling up. “I don’t want to hear moral lessons from a _child_. Especially one who explicitly ignored not only my warnings to not come back to the forest but my warnings to not go near the manor!” He was yelling by now, and act that aggravated the ice in his chest. Hat Kid flinched at his outburst and looked down.

The howl grew louder outsider.

“Whatever!” He scowled, pushing to his feet. He headed deeper into the cavern.

He had a couple souls he saved for emergencies back at his tree. He needed to get his strength back so he could push back the growing blizzard—which would not doubt be encroaching on his territory now that he wasn’t there to protect it—and so he could _get out of his pathetic, powerless form_.

Hat Kid followed behind him, her footsteps tapping gently against the ice. He glanced down, finding her still staring down, almost pensively.

“Why did you go to the manor?” Snatcher asked, unable to keep the bite out of his question.

“There was…” Hat Kid hesitated, her brow furrowing. “I thought I saw something when I was there for the contract but Vanessa was chasing me at the time so I had to run.”

“What kind of something?” Snatcher growled. Something worth risking her life and his afterlife for?

Hat Kid shrugged. He fumed.

“It sounds like we need to make another deal!” Snatcher spat, grinning wildly as he bent down to match her height. “A contract that forbids you from returning to the manor and if you break it, I _will_ eat your soul.”

“I can take care of myself,” Hat Kid scowled.

“Who had to come rescue who?” Snatcher demanded, his volume growing.

“I was about to leave but I thought you were Vanessa when you came in,” Hat Kid grumbled, crossing her arms.

Snatcher gritted his teeth.

Okay. That hurt more than the ice in his chest.

They walked in silence until Snatcher felt a tug on the edge of his tunic. He glanced down, finding Hat Kid holding out a knitted cap with polar bear ears on it.

“It might help you warm up?” She offered, pushing the hat into his hands.

“I’m dead, Kid,” Snatcher shook his head. “It won’t help me.” He pushed it back towards her and she sighed, swapping her top hat for the knit cap. A thought occurred to him and he leaned down while they walked, giving her a wicked, toothy grin that he hoped was threatening. “Can’t you just zip up to your spaceship, now? Why are you still bothering me?”

“I thought you might need some help,” Hat Kid skipped a little as they reached the end of the tunnel and came out to the frozen village.

“I don’t need help,” Snatcher’s smile shifted into a tight frown as his eyes glinted.

_No one had been there._

_Spirits of children and villagers caught in the ice._

_He had been alone._

_He had been the one to fix things himself._

_To take care of the forest himself._

“And I especially don’t need help from a brat like you,” Snatcher continued with a hiss.

“Maybe you don’t need it,” Hat Kid shrugged as they came to the crumbled bridge, leading to an already frosting Subcon. “But it’s what BFFs do!” She offered her hand, readying her grappling hook to get them both across the gap that they both knew he could no longer fly over.

He dug his clawed fingers into his arms, ignoring the bite of pain in his chest. A moment passed as she stared up at him innocently, but with a infuriating stubbornness. He finally relented, unclenching a hand and reaching down to take hers.

“Only because it’s part of the contract,” he growled.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Soon-deh-ray.” Hat Kid rolled her eyes.

Snatcher furrowed his brow. She had called him that before but he still wasn’t quite sure what it meant, and therefore, didn’t have a good insult to hurl back.

Regardless, Hat Kid escorted the soul-snatching ghost trapped in a hideous and powerless form back to his tree. She even remained to make sure the snowflakes spreading across his chest melted completely once he swallowed a soul and he was able to summon his blue flames once more.

All the while he changed back into his more comfortable and impressive form and snaked into the air to dispel the encroaching cold, he did his best to ignore Hat Kid’s presence. Afterall, now that he was strong again, he didn’t need anyone’s help and he certainly didn’t need the help of a child.

He didn’t need help then. He didn’t need help now.

_The ghost prince had worked tirelessly to figure out how to defrost the forest. He figured out how to bond the souls of the children to dolls so they could walk and talk again. He did the unthinkable and consumed the soul of a curious person who had thrown a rock at one of the doll children out of fear. His power grew and he could push back even more of the ice. Alone, he found himself still standing after spending so long in chains._

_Alone, he would still fight and ensure the broken kingdom of Subcon could outlast Vanessa’s cold clutches. Alone, he would keep himself together._

_Because no one but him would be able to._

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if I missed any tags. I hope you guys enjoyed! I am planning a sort of series based on other songs for these characters but we'll see. This will eventually be an au that explores Hat Kid's past! Please let me know what you think and have a great day!


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